Buffing and polishing machine



Dec.-- 3, 1929. G. A. cARLsoN BUFFING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 3, 1929. c so 1,738,356

BUFFING -AND POLISHING MACHINE v atboznm FFlCE GUEi-TAVE A. OABLSOlEI, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN BUFJEIITG- D POLISHING: MA.C1-ZINE Application filed February 20, 1925.

in the grinding, butting or polishing of small articles, it is economical to provide for the automatic feeding of them progressively to the abrading wheel or br ssh, and as the nature of different articles may vary in a manner requiring their submission to the wheel or brush for agreater or shorter length of time to secure required results, it is desirable that, in a device for the progressive treatment 19 of such articles, provision should be made for determining the periods at which the articles are presented to and removed from the said wheel or brush; and it is also desirable that such means may be readily operable and the is determining of the duration of each individual grinding, butling or polishing operation be quickly effected without necessarily interrupting the operation of the device, and without requiring the interchanging of parts so of the said device for such purpose.

This invention therefore has for its object to provide a machine wherein these features are embodied and which is of compact and easily operable and adjustable forin, being particularly adapted for the grinding, butting or polishing of small articles progressively, with dispatch and under ready control as to the duration of the work operation.

it further object is to provide in such a machine a unique change inechanisni associated with a turntable or turret, whereby thearticles are brought into operative position at intervals, the duration of which is detern'iined by the selective operation of said change speed mechanism.

'lhe invention also aims to provide a novel form of turret or turntable rotatable at intervals through a selective change speed mechanism wherein articles are successively brought into operative position and held in such position and are at the same time brought into gear with driving means effecting the rotation of the positioned article.

it. still further object is to provide an intermittent stop mechanism for the said turret, said top mechanism being operable through the medium of a selective change speed gear if desired, and a still further object is to provide means whereby said change speed gear mechanism effects both the operation of Serial No. 10,521.

said stop .u'iechanisin and the rotation of said turret.

A further characteristic of the invention is a can] member controlling the said stop mechanism, effecting the rotation of said turret, and driven through the medium of said change speed mechanism, Where such inechn is provided.

. further objects subsidiary to or refroin the aforesaid objects, or from the construction or operation of the invention as it may be carried into effect, will become apparent the said invention is hereinafter further disclosed.

in carrying said invention into effect, I may provide in a grinding, buiiing or polishing machine, a suitably driven Wheel or brush, a turret or turntable having article receiving spindles adapted to be rotated successively into operative relation to the said wheel or brush, gears on the said spindles, a support for the said turntable, a driving shaft carrying a gear with which each of said spindle gears engage when in their operative position relative to the wheel or brush, a cam inen'iber having frictional driving connection with said turret, a plurality of stepped gears on said driving shaft and associated with said friction member, an adjustable selector adapted to effect engagement of either of the steps of said gears with said friction member ivheii'eby rotation may be transmitted to the said friction member at various speeds, and a stop engaging said turret and resisting its rotation, said earn nieinber effecting a disengagement of said stop at intervals determined by the setting of said gear selector whereby the successive spindle is brought into operative position, the said stop being adapted to roengage the turret upon the operative p0sition of such successive spindle being assuined.

All of which is more particularly described and ascertained hereinafter, by Way of ore ample, having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying the said invention.

Figure is a horizontal sectional view partpart of the change speed gearing; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the cam member and gear selector.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawing. 7

In the illustrated arrangement, two pedestals 1 and 2 are shown, one of which carries the polishing brush 3 in a well known manner, and the other a motor driven turret 4 provided with spindles 5 upon which may be mounted articles 6 intended to be brought into contact with the said brush. The turret device comprises a body structure 7 having an offset portion 8 in which is journaled a driving shaft 9 adapted to be driven by a motor lO preferably mounted upon the machine, said driving shaft having keyed there- 7 tostepped pinions 11, 12, 13, and 14, together with a gear at its inner end. This gear15 is me common plane with gears 16 mounted on the said spindles 5, within the said turret 4, so that upon the rotation of the turret in the manner hereinafter described, each of the said gears 16 may be successively brought into mesh with the driving gear 15.

v The said turret is intended to be so disposed with respect to the brush 3 that articles carried by. the said spindles may be successively brought into contact with the said brush as the said turret is rotated, and the gear 15 is so situated that it will engage the g'earof the spindle which is in operative relation'to the brush 3 and cause its rotation, thereby rotating the article which is being buffed or polished by the said brush. The remaining spindles, being idle, admit of further articles being applied to them or removed therefrom while the work is proceeding on the rotating spindle.

The turret is intended to be partially rotated intermittently to bring the spindles successively into operative position, so that by the interchanging of articles on the inoperative spindles as suggested during the stationary periods of the turret, the progressive treatment of a series of articles may be readily efiected in an economical manner.

' Due to the different nature of articles or the different types of finish which may be desired, it is in many cases necessary that provision should be made for controlling the length of time during which the articles are submitted to the action of the abrasive wheel or brush, and for this purpose I may utilize I a change speed gear mechanism associated with the turret and with a stop controlling the movement of the said turret, the said mechanism comprising in this instance a series of stepped gears 17, 18, 19 and 20 meshed with the said pinions 11, 12, 13 and 14 respec tively of the driving shaft and adapted to be selectively engaged with a sleeve 21 rotatabl y mounted upon a tubular hub 22 of the said turret. This hub is provided with a conical enlargement 23 which enters a correspondingly coned seat 24 in the on d of the said sleeve 21 whereby frictional engagement between the sleeve and the hub is effected, and the said hub is mounted on the reduced end 28 of :1 preferably fixed spindle 27 and secured in position thereon by a setscrew 25 and washer 26.

The said fixed spindle 27 is transversely slotted throughout part of its length at 25) and is bored to receive an axially slid able indicator rod 30 which extends into the said slotted part of the spindle and is provided with a removable slotted end portion 31, which is threaded into the inner end of the said rod 30, the slot thereof being arranged in a common plane with the slot 29 of the spindle and accommodating a longitudinally divided transverse member 32, the parts of which may be separated when the head 31 is detached from the stem of the said rod 30. This transverse member has its ends recessed at 33 for the reception of a ring 34 which is rotatable in the said recesses and to which are connected arms or keys 35 extending downwardly from the said ring and accommodated in keyways 36 in the said sleeve 21.

The portion of the sleeve which is provided with the said keyways enters the bore of the stepped gears 17, 18, 19 and 20 the lowermost of which abuts against an annular rih 37 on the said sleeve, and these gears are provided with annular internal ribs 38, 39, 4-0 and 41 spaced to provide annular recesses 41-2. 43 and 44, which ribs are also provided with slots or keyways 45 corresponding to the keyways 36 of the said sleeve 21.

It will be noted that the keys 35 hercinbefore referred to are provided with offset ends or dogs 46, and that these dogs enter the keyways 45 of the gears 17, 18, 19 and 20. the proportions of the said dogs being such that they may freely enter the annular recesses 42, 43 and 44 of the gears when in positions intermediate thereof. Thus the said dogs may not engage two adjacent gears at one and the same time, but must assume a neutral position when being moved from engagement with one gear to engagement with another gear, as will be obvious.

The indicator rod 30 is provided with spaced annular notches 47, 48, 49 and 50, with one or other of which a spring pressed stop 51 carried by the fixed spindle 27 may engage, so that the said rod may be set in any one of several longitudinal adjustments; and it will be noted that each of these positions of adjustment is accompanied by the setting of the dogs 46 in engagement with one or other of I, St)

the gears 17, 18, 19 or 20, by reason of the association of the said dogs with the ring 3% and the transverse member 82 carried by the head of the indicator rod 80. It will also be apparent that the said dogs, by selectively establishing driving relation between one or other of the said gears 17, 18, 19 or QOand the said sleeve, upon adjustment by the inclicator rod, determine the various relative speeds of rotation of the said sleeve with respect to the driving shaft 9.

In a tubular offset enlargement 7 of the body structure 7 is arranged a plunger 52 having a head 53 provided laterally with a roller 5 1 and terminating in a stop 55, the said plunger being pressed in the direction of the turret by an actuating spring 56 housed in the said tubular enlargement, and the said turret is provided with orifices 57 agreeing in number with the spindles and adapted to rereceive the said stop 55 in such manner that the said turret may be held thereby against rotation. When the turret is so held, one or other of the spindles 5 is in its operative relation to the brush 3.

Each of the said orifices 57 is provided with a bushing 58, part of which, 59, pro jects somewhat above the inner surface of the turret which is opposed to the stop and serves to ensure the engagement of the stop with the turret when required, s will be further described.

An examination of Figures 4 and 6 will reveal the said sleeve 21 as being provided at its inner end with a cam 60, which cam rises from its forward end to first one stage 61 and then falls to a second stage 62, the said roller 54: of the plunger 52 being situated in the path of this cam as it is rotated through the medium of one or other of the gears already referred to and described.

lit will now be apparent that, as the sleeve is rotated when the machine is in operation and the stop 55 is entered in one of the orifices as is the case while work is being effected on one of the spindles by the said brush, the for ward end of the cam will eventually engage the roller and cause it to ride upwardly onto the first stage 61 of the said cam, thereby moving the plunger against the action of its spring 56 and removing the stop from the turret. The frictional engagement of the said sleeve with the hub of the turret will then effect the rotation of the turret so that the next spindle 5 is brought into operative position relative to the brush.

As this rotation takes place the said roller drops to the second stage 62 of the cam, thus bringing the stop 55 close to the inner surface of the turret and into the path of the projecting portion 59 of one of the bushings 58. For this reason the correct alinement of the stop with the opening into which it is intended to pass at the proper time is ensured as the said opening cannot pass beyond the stop, and as the said stop engages the projection of the bushing, the cam passes from beneath the roller and the said stop is permitted to fully engage the turret, locking the same in its reset and partially rotated position, the cycle of operations being repeated upon each revolution of the sleeve 21.

It will now be seen that the variation of the speed of rotation of the sleeve by the adjustment ofthe indicator rod 30 will result in determining the length of time which elapses between the intermittent partialrotary motions of the turret, so that the time during which an article is submitted to the abrasive action of the brush may be varied simply by the adjustment of the said rod 30, and this adjustment may be readily changed from time to time according to requirements.

It will be further seen that normal frictional engagement between the said sleeve and the said hub of the turret may be comparatively small, as the pressure of the roller 54 upon the cam due to the action of the spring 56 may be utilized to effect the in creasing of the frictional engagement between the sleeve and the said hub to an extent suflicient to ensure the required rotation of the turret, this pressure, of course, being relieved when the turret is not being rotated, due to the fact that the roller is not then in engagement with the cam.

The described automatic turret arrangement embodying the said invention is extremely adaptable, lending itself to the handling of a great many varieties of objects, and may be used in combination with different types of grinding wheels, buffing wheels and polishing brushes; and the said invention may be developed within the scope of the following claims without departing from the essential features of the said invention, it being desired that the specification and drawing be read as being merely illustrative and not in a limiting sense, except as necessitated by the prior art.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a buffing machine, a rotary drive shaft, a rotary turret having work-engaging means and a hub portion, a sleeve surrounding said hub portion in frictional engagement therewith and geared to be driven by said shaft, a fixed body structure adjacent said sleeve, a locking plunger slidably mounted in said fixed body structure, said turret having a series of apertures for selectively receiving said plunger, a cam carried by said sleeve and adapted to admit said plunger into said apertures and withdraw said plunger from said aperture whereby to arrest and permit rotation of said turret by frictional engagement of said turret with said sleeve.

2. In a buffing machine, a rotary drive shaft, a rotary turret having a hub portion, work carrying spindles carried by said turret and adapted to be gearedselectively to said drive shaft, onrotation of said turret, a sleeve surrounding said hub portion in frictional engagement therewith and geared to be driven by said drive shaft, a fixed body structure adjacent said sleeve, a locking plunger slidably mounted in said fixed body structure, said turret having a series of apertu'res for selectively receiving said plunger, a cam carried by said sleeve and adapted to admit said plunger into said apertures and withdraw said plunger from said apertures whereby to arrest and permit rotation of said turret by said frictional engagement of said 15 turret with said sleeve. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GUSTAVE A. CARLSON. 

